Heart murmur in cats symptoms

Common Questions and Answers about Heart murmur in cats symptoms

heart

The clot is formed in the flaccid heart and travels in the circulation until it becomes lodged in an area in which it is too large to pass, causing a blockage. Most of these cats with a thromboembolism do not recover.
It is not lucky for your cat to have cardiomyopathy, but it is lucky that it was discovered since your cat can now be placed on heart medications which will hopefully prevent embolis formation.

He may also have feline heartworm disease since it is estimated that a good 2/3 of cats with persistant cough and other lung/heartsymptoms have feline heartworm disease (in certain high mosquito areas). And of course there could always be concurrent lung disease such as asthma.
I assume that Scruffy is not on any heart or lung medications at this time, but these medications can be very effective in prolonging a good quality of life.

Heart murmurs can be benign (causing no problems) or severe (leading to heart failure). When a heartmurmur is identified in young kittens, we often think about the possibility of a congenital defect. Congenital defects that may occur are patent ductus arteriosus, atrial and ventricular septal wall defects, mitral or tricuspid dysplasia, aortic stenosis, and pulmonic stenosis. In kittens, the most common congenital defects are related to the mitral valve or ventricular septal defects.

ASYMPTOMATIC CATS AND MURMURS
A heartmurmur is simply the sound generated by turbulent blood flow. While turbulent blood flow can come from heart disease in cats, it can also come from anxiety or even compression of the chest from the stethoscope. This makes interpretation of a heart murmur in an apparently healthy cat difficult. Does the cat have latent heart disease or no disease at all?

I have read online that seizures incats are rare....Is this a result of the heartmurmur?
He is an inside cat-- never gone outside. I don't have poisonous plants and clean with safe products. I leave no people food on the counters or in the sink and feed them prescription food because Bo gets crystals in his urine. Have I left anything out?
As you can tell, I am pretty clueless about this....suggestions or help? I'm 58 and a first-time owner! So I don't have history to draw on...

Karla
Attack Of The Killer Grains Part II
In our last article we talked about how grains contribute to Struvite crystals in cats and dogs. Struvite crystals are common in normal urine and can cause infections in dogs. When the crystals are present in large amounts, they can form stones. Struvite crystals are almost always accompanied by bacteria that create a high alkaline pH.
A pet fed a diet consisting of a high percent of grains or starch creates the high alkaline in the urine.

hi im a 23 yr old female and never in my life had anxiety or pains in my heart until i delivered my son he is now 3 and its so hard to enjoy every little minute with him ..ive been to the doctors they tell me its axiety .ive been to the er umteen times they tell me my EKG turned out fine my blood work turned out fine my Xrays turned out fine ..why does this little thing in the back of my brain tell me otherwise..i have a friend that was 32 and 7 months pregant with her first little boy .

I was making frequent visits to my cardiologist for bad heart palps, had every heart test done in the medical field, all return normal. Stress test, ultrasound, echo, 24 hour monitor, etc...
But he said, many thyroid patients visit him, with heart palps, and he diagnosed sleep apnea, with most of them, after reviewing thier medical history and lab results.
I'm not a doctor, just sharing what my cardiologist shared with me.

right as I just said my dog Tyson died a year and a half ago,he was a staffie x boxer and was 15 yrs old,he had had abit of a cough for a few months but it wasnt bad enough to worry about at first (so I thought) we decided to take him to the vets after it suddenly got much much worse, the vet told us about a illness called Cardiomyopathy(check spelling!

I am so sorry about your loss, but Cleo is now in a place without pain.
Many cats will not show any symptoms of heart disease prior to having thromboembolism. They won't have a heart murmur, or coughing or wheezing and will have no sign of exercise intolerance, or syncope (fainting from heart problems).
A chest X-Ray, echocardiogram, and blood pressure check would show abnormalities, but not many owners are willing to have these diagnostics performed unless a problem is already noted.

Twenty four hours later we had to rush him to the ICU his lungs full of fluid and he had small heart tears in both his atriums. He lived two more weeks in and out of the ICU on oxygen. We didn't get the chance to euthanise him peacefully. He went into cardiac arrest in the ICU and died. It was horrendous.
I'm completely heartbroken and still in shock. It was very hard to realise at the time that all the meds were just buying time.

I am not testing her for Cushings because in my heart, I know that's what it is. She has most of the symptoms and talking about the tests and meds, it is expensive and there are no guarantees. The side effects from the meds can be nasty as you said. I won't put my precious girl through that or myself. We will spend the rest of her days enjoying each day as best we can. Yes, our walks are slower and shorter but we still take them. Diva will let us know when the time is right.

While she may have a heartmurmur and possibly heart disease, I doubt that has anything to do with her behavior towards you other pets. Some cats just don't like other cats (or dogs). This tends to be especially true with cats that have been declawed since they can become more defensive and use other tools (hissing, growling, swatting, etc.) to make up for their lack of normal defenses.

God will be there with you making you strong and ready to take Cissy to a special place. Remember, she will always be alive in your heart. No one is ever truly gone when they have been truly loved. My prayers are with you.

I know Gina normally posts this, but it looks like our last weekly check in was over a week ago, so I figured I would post just incase little Caiden decided to join the world and she wont be on! That would be pretty cool?!!
So, how is everyone feeling? At this point, some of us already have our little one's in our arms...and many of us are very anxiously awaiting to see when ours will come!! Update everyone ladies...and let us know how you are doing!!!
For me....I am sick of the tests...

Yes you can also use enrofloxacin which is comes with a veterinary label called Baytril and/or Orbax to treat mycoplasma incats.
Here is a summary of this feline red blood cell disease which I hope is helpful.
Sometimes called feline infectious anemia, feline mycoplasma is a bacterial infection caused by the Mycoplasma haemofelis organism.
Feline mycoplasma is spread through the bite of an infected flea, lice tick or mosquito as well as through a transfusion with infected blood.

I took him to the vet early this week and after blood work we were told he was severely anemic, had enlarged intestines, a mass in his stomach, a grade 4 heartmurmur, and was in kidney/renal failure. He was a three year old bengal/tabby mix.
Due to everything that was wrong, we made the decision to let him go. I'm struggling trying to come to terms with what might have caused this. Does anyone have any ideas?

Hi, how is your cat's heart? Has the vet commented on any heartmurmur? Sometimes when a cat has a disease heart, fluid will build up in the lungs and come out of the mouth. It would be relatively large quantities and it would look like drool.
I'm sorry if I scared you, don't want to do that.
I hope that it's not a heart condition. Best wishes, and please let me know how things go.

It is also possible that the heartmurmur is an incidental finding, in other words has no real significance, especially as compared to the other problems. Further, many cats with undiagnosed inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (the cat form of "irritable bowel" are chronic intermittent vomiters. Vomiting is not a direct sign of heart disease.

Oh no, I just cannot believe this is happening to me, now, in the prime of my life. My heart is beating, I swear it will beat right out of my chest, and why am I so sweaty? Oh, the stroke, that’s right.
RING!
For the love of all that is holy, I AM indeed having a stroke, my ears are ringing! Tinnitus! Tinnitus could be a symptom of a neurological event. A cerebrovascular accident. That is the fancy name for a stroke. How do I know all this, including these technical terms?

The x-ray could possibly show an enlarged heart, then that would need an echocardiogram. The vet would've heard a heartmurmur, though. So, if that wasn't heard than that is good news.
I'm leaning more towards asthma or an infection-that was the vibe that I got when I read your post.

You say he whines if you pick he up. This suggests to me that your
kitty is possibly in pain. Cats don't whine for no reason. He may have
some sort of infection that is causing him pain. Please take your fur baby
to be seen by a vet. It sounds to me like he needs medical attention.
Kittens and older cats are good at hiding when they are sick.
p.s. You say you gave him flea meds a week ago. You need to tell
your vet this.

Obviously its make-up must have something very very appealing to Catsin it. Maybe an organic scent or something involving plants (I know that some Cats like to chew or eat Plant leaves sometimes). Tonight I've discarded ALL the cat-litter from every box around the house (three in all) and replaced it with Litter from another Store in the hopes that it won't contain whatever it is thats attracting Rikki and Maxx.

Just got back from the vet.
She thinks Mama is passing out, not a seizure or stroke. She heard a heartmurmur (which is new), and thinks she has high blood pressure, maybe kidney and thyroid issues. She's slightly dehydrated, which could mean something with her kidneys, as she gets lots of water and canned food.
She also noticed that her retinas are degenerating, and that her pupils aren't dilating nearly as much as they should (also new).

I was the same way with my husband when I lost my best buddy.
He had a heartmurmur and had been on mediation for 3 years...one morning he had similar symptoms as your boyfriends cat, I called my Vet who was willing to come to the house...he said he was in congestive heart failure and we did put him down that morning.....it was a shock, he had been short of breath for awhile but not in distress till that morning.....I took it very hard too, he was 17 and my best friend.

I may also add the gulping for air being also a symptom of his heartmurmur and inability to catch his breath making his heart work alot harder.
This forum and the friends made here with a mutual love of cats is a wonderful source of both information and comfort, and one I hold very dear to my own heart!
God bless your Rikki and I'm sure through his illness will come of help to others along the way...

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